the chair: on this vote the yeas are 232. the nays are 185. the amendment is not agreed to. excuse me. the amendment is agreed to. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment number 2 printed in part b of house report 115-163 by the gentleman from indiana, mr. hollingsworth, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the ayes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 2 printed in part b of house report 115-163 offered by mr. hollingsworth of indiana. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a two-minute vote.

[captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 231. the nays are 180. the amendment is agreed to. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment number 4 printed in part b of house report 115-163 by the gentleman from new york, mr. faceo, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the ayes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 4 printed in part b of house report 115-163 offered by mr. faso of new york. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by

the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 235. the nays are 184. the amendment is agreed to. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment number 6 printed in part b of house report 115-163 by the gentleman from colorado, mr. buck, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the ayes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 6 printed in part b of house report 115-163 offered by mr.

buck of colorado. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] e

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 233. the nays are 185. the amendment is adopted. the question is on the amendment in the nature of a substitute, as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the amendment is adopted. accordingly under the rule the ommittee rises. the speaker pro tempore: mr. hairman.

the speaker pro tempore: the chair of the committee of the whole house on the state of the union reports that the committee had under consideration h.r. 310 and reports back tth house with an amendment adopted in the committee of the whole. under the rule the previous question is ordered. is a separate vote demanded on the amendment recorded? if not the question is on adoption of the amendment in the nature of a substitute as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. the question is on engrossment and third reading. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the clerk: the bill supports consumers and entrepreneurs, eliminating red tape to increase access to capital and the t and reviewing the -- provisions of the dodd-frank act that makes america less prosperous, less stable and

less flee. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the passage of the bill. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having risen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 the five-minute vote on passage of the bill will be followed by a five-minute vote on the speaker's approval of the journal if ordered. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on on -- on this vote, the yeas are 233, the nays are 186. the bill is passed. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. pursuant to clause of rule 20, the unfinished business is the question on agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal, which the chair will put de novo. the question is on agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair the ayes have it and the journal stands approved. for what purpose does the gentleman from wisconsin seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that when the house adjourn today it adjourn to meet on monday june 12, 2017, when it shall convene at noon for morning hour debate and 2:00 p.m. for legislative business. the speaker pro tempore: without objection.

the speaker pro tempore: the ouse will come to order.

the chair will now entertain requests for one-minute speeches. will members please take their conversations off the floor. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania eek recognition? without objection the gentleman is recognized for one minute. the house is not in order. will the house please come to order. will the members please remove their conversations from the floor.

the gentleman is recognized for ne minute. mr. thompson: thank you, madam speaker. earlier this morning the house committee on agriculture held a hearing on snap technology and modernization. snap was formerly known as food stamps. the agriculture committee has conducted a thorough review of snap over the past 30 months this program is critically important to 42 million americans who utilize it each month. it's the largest domestic hunger safety net program in the country. it's imperative it remain viable so we can continue to serve so many who are struggling. that's why today we discussed technology and modernization of snap, including areas to

enhance integrity, improve the customer experience and ease administrative burdens. in 2004, e.b.t. or electronic benefits transfer was completed. this is the electronic system that allows the recipient to authorize transfer of supplemental benefits to a retailer. this was a tremendous step forward toward improving the program. as chairman of the subcommittee, i look forward to continuing to improve the efficiency of snap. thank you, madam chair. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new jersey seek recognition? without objection the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. i'm sorry. ady? >> thank you, madam speaker. in the wake of the financial crisis, 7.8 million american

consumers lost their homes through foreclosure. the failure to have a responsibility regulatory environment also resulted in taxpayers paying $7 trillion to bail out financial institutions through loans and according to some reports, an additional $22 trillion through the federal government's purchase of assets . my home state of new jersey was severely impacted by this crisis and is still feeling the effects, so thrs personal. mrs. watson coleman: this bill guts many of the commonsense protections outlined in the dodd-frank and severely restrict the consumer finance protections bureau from doing its job. the wrong choice act gives wall street a hand while ignoring the needs of hardworking americans. it will allow predatory lending practices to go unchecked and those on wall street to skirt consequences. wall street reform and other

reforms have given our consumers the strongest protections in history. i will continue to stand up for hardworking americans before republicans pave the way back to the dark days of the financial crisis. the speaker pro tempore: members will please remove their conversations from the floor. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from washington seek recognition? >> madam speaker, i request permission to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you. years john who spent 48 his cation and announced retirement. ms. herrera beutler: he was superintendent of the evergreen school district, the fifth largest school district in

washington for 11 years. he exhibits how much he values students in setting up to succeed. those who worked with john knows he's dedicated to improving the learning improvement for those in southwest washington under five decades. the health and bioscience high school was built. it places an emphasis on work force development be in health sciences and biotechnology that's an investment in our future leaders. it took a decade to research, plan and build this transformational school but john remained committed to the vision of this school and through -- though his formal career has ended, the legacy of his persistent leadership that can be shown throughout the high school and his students. his community engagement also spans well beyond his career as superintendent. he's taken every opportunity to serve and is a shining example what makes this expansive and populated region to feel like a tight knit and caring community. he's an inspirational to all in

southwest washington and i'm confident know he will improve education here and beyond. i congratulate beyond in his retirement and wish him all the best in future endeavors. with that i yield back, madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one inute. >> thank you, madam speaker. i rise today to recognize clearwater, florida's calvary christian high school warriors boys' baseball team on their impressive state championship win. . crist: coach olson and the warriors' against pensacola catholic led to the class 4-a title capping off a perfect season of 30 wins and no losses. such an achievement takes more than skill and talent.

it takes determination, unwavering focus and perhaps most importantly the ability to work together. these skills are invaluable both on and off the field. what they have learned as teammates will enable their success not just as athletes but as good citizens. our entire community is proud of their outstanding sportsmanship and achievements. on behalf of pinellas county, congratulations, warriors. thank you, madam speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from kansas seek recognition? >> i request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> madam speaker, i rise today in recognition of the 100th anniversary of the army's first infantry division, where we know her as the big red one. from her heroic start, the first infantry division has played a vital role in our nation's history, serving in almost every war since 1917. today the big red one has over

5,000 soldiers deployed worldwide and an additional 10,000 soldiers in my district at fort riley. they are supporting those ongoing operations. since 1917, more than 13,000 soldiers of the first infantry division have paid the ultimate sacrifice. we honor those who have worn the patch of the big red one and those that do so today. i could not be more proud of our troops at fort riley and i am honored to represent them and may i say to all of them, thanks for your service. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? mr. payne: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. madam speaker, i rise today to congratulate the girls and boys track teams at

westside high school in newark, new jersey, for winning the gold in their respective four by 400 meter relay heats at the penn relays this year. the oldest and largest track and field competition in the world, the penn relays is also one of the most prestigious drawing nearly 20,000 athletes from across the globe. there's some really tough competition at the penn relays, but both westside teams stood out. the boys relay team, made of up of james, jakai and shquan won their heat in an impressive three minutes and 28 seconds. more than a second faster than the second place team. he girls relay team, made of mina, fatina, tanana and janae won their heat in an impressive four minutes and seven seconds, more than three seconds faster

than the second place finishers. madam speaker, again, i would like to congratulate the westside high school track team and their coaches, ricky and eddie, for bringing home the gold, a testament of their skill, dedication and teamwork. go rough riders. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? >> madam speaker, i rise to revise and extend for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> madam speaker, i rise today to commend the work of the troop county drug court in lagrange, georgia. i had an opportunity to speak at their commencement last week. this helps those with substance abuse and mental disorders which allows them to get their lives back on track. as a dentist i had an

opportunity to work with such a program and work with those suffering from substance abuse through my work with hope harbor. i've seen firsthand for every addiction there is a real human being behind the statistic. mr. ferguson: they have the potential to live long and productive lives and programs like this help them do just that. the success rate of these programs speaks volumes about the value to the community and those who graduate from the program. 75% of drug court graduates never reoffend, and this is almost 2 1/2 times higher than the 30% of success rate of those who serve a prison sentence and receive no treatment. i commend the hard work of the men and women of the troop county drug treatment court. madam speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas seek recognition? ms. jackson lee: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. madam speaker,

i rise to discuss two issues and to really speak on the impact of the american people. that is, of course, first the choice act that we just debated and to oppose it for the very reason that we passed dodd-frank. we passed it to respond to the greatest recision in 80 years, that saw a financial crisis that caused working men and women to lose the greatest amount of wealth that they had ever done. but yet our colleagues here believe it's important to choose large corporate interests over working men and women. at the same time, today we heard the testimony of director comey under oath. gave a list of almost troublesome, very troublesome actions and acts and words offered by the president of the united states. shortly thereafter, the lawyer of the president, who is not under oath, came forward to deny, disparnle and suggest that director comey --

disparage and suggest that director comey is was not telling the truth. that's something the judiciary committee should believe or begin an inquiry. that's our jurisdictional duty, to begin an inquiry to discern who is telling the truth. the f.b.i. is under our jurisdiction. it's time for the house to hold hearings now. the truth must be known by the american people. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? mr. carter: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to extend and revise my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. carter: madam speaker, i rise today to remember the life of the respected savannah lawyer and gentleman, paul w. paynard jr., who died at the age of 71. he comes from a family who worked tirelessly to serve our country both in the armed forces as well as our judiciary system. his father, paul painer sr., served during world war ii and created a successful law

practice in north georgia. paul jr. followed in his father's footsteps. after that he attended law school at the university of georgia, beginning a career that would benefit many savannahians for many years to come. he started a law firm for which he practiced for nearly 30 years. by the end of his law career he was known as one of the best lawyers in the entire state of georgia and was named to the list of georgia's top 10 lawyers in 2014. the paul w. painer jr. civility and professional award was also created in his honor to remember his fantastic work and reward other outstanding lawyers in georgia. mr. painer was an honorable person who did everything possible to improve our judicial system and he gained respect from lawyers all over. he will certainly be missed as an asset to our community and entire legal field. thank you, madam speaker, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek

recognition? >> to request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, madam speaker. as a former prosecutor, i rise to state the obvious -- president trump committed obstruction of justice. we have direct evidence that the president asked f.b.i. director for loyalty, that he demanded it, that he ask the f.b.i. director to drop an investigation into michael flynn, that the president fired the f.b.i. director and then that the president on national tv said did he it because of the russia probe and then he told the russians in his oval office that he did it to relieve great pressure because of the f.b.i. investigation. that is classic obstruction of justice. "the washington post" today has a quote from one of the prosecutors of watergate and he says, i help prosecute watergate. comey's statement is sufficient evidence for an obstruction of justice case.

i call on special counsel mueller to investigate the president of the united states for violating the obstruction of justice statute, which is a felony. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. members are reminded to refrain from engaging in personalities toward the president. for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia seek recognition? >> madam speaker, i rise to seek unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> madam speaker, my generation has known two very profound events -- war and recession. to some folks, a decade seems like forever ago, but for most virginians, most americans, the events of the financial collapse 10 years ago still haunt their memories today. financial devastation hit the poor and middle class in this country unlike anything we have witnessed in our lifetimes. businesses shuttered. retirement plans halted. mr. taylor: families losing many homes. in response congress passed

dodd-frank, a bill with more regulations than all other bills passed during the obama administration. dodd-frank regulations have pushed many community banks out of business. we lose one of them or a credit union every single day. small business lending, the driver of jobs in this country, has declined. everyday banking services have been reduced, and homeownership is increasingly out of reach. the financial choice act provides more accountability over unelected bodies, unlocks small business lending, allows community banks to survive, stops big bank bailouts with our tax dollars and it will increase homeownership and it imposes the toughest penalties ever for financial fraud. this bill puts the american dream into reach for millions of americans and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california eek recognition?

without objection gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. >> veterans shouldn't have to come home in a body bag to be recognized as americans. last weekend, i went along with some of my colleagues to new mexico, where we visited veterans that have served this country who picked up a weapon to go and fight in war to protect our freedoms. they survived, came home and some of them were deported. do you know that if you go and fight overseas and you are not a citizen and you die, you get automatic citizenship. one of these people we saw this weekend is my constituent hector borassas. he was wearing his uniform, was deported to mexico after serving 5 1/2 years in the u.s. army. i'm proud to co-sponsor h.r.

1405 to allow veterans to come back to the united states. i hope he gets to come back, too. thank you, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from nebraska seek recognition? >> permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> thank you, madam speaker. i recognize lieutenant colonel lisa epperson from the united states air force. she has given a great deal to this nation. her assignments include los angeles, dulles air force base. she is from defense satellite communication system and minute man 3 to the f-15. she impacted our war fighting operations enduring freedom and iraqi freedom. she represented our country with

honor and i'm privileged to pay tribute to her. i want to thank her and her husband and children for 20 years of service and i wish them god speed to start this new chapter. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. are there any more requests for one-minutes? the clerk: leaves of absence requested for mr. clyburn for today. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the request is granted. under the speaker's announced policy of january 3, 2017, the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. smucker, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. mr. smucker: i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their

remarks and include extraneous material on the topic of this special order. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. smucker: tonight, i'm honored to lead a bipartisan special order on career and technical education. we have several members joining us this evening to highlight programs in their districts and upcoming re-authorization of the carl been perkins career and technical education act. i would like tore introduce my colleague and co-lead, who has been working hard with my pennsylvania colleague, congressman thompson on h.r. 2353, strengthening career than and technical education act for he 21st century. >> thank you, representative smucker. i appreciate your leadership,

thank you congressman from pennsylvania for your leadership. it's an honor to be here. thank you. madam speaker, in recent years, global economic trend have led to an ever-growing skills gap. while unemployment has fallen to 4.4% in my home state in illinois, there is a widening gap between the jobs opened and the skills workers need. this has become apparent traveling throughout my district listening to businesses, parents and students and higher education officials discuss the local state of the economy. i have been particularly concerned with the feedback i have received from businesses who continue to report there is a gap between the talent and skills they need in employees and what they can actually find. shortages and in skilled fields like machineists, technicians, operators, cybersecurity and health care are impairing their

ability. there is much congress can do to improve the skills of our labor force, which is why i was proud , partner with my good friend congressman g.t. thompson in introducing h.r. 235 . our bill re-authorizes the carl b. perkins' program and gives states and local governments to give them the tools to compete in the 21st century. the strengthening career and technical education for the 21 century act addresses one of the underlying skills of the gap. what is being taught in classes does not sync to get what is needed for a job. it requires a strong buy-in from local businesses. with more local stakeholders, it will better equip students with

the technical skills they need to find success in local in- demand careers. finally, i believe it is important to shift the culture surrounding career and technical education. every student no matter his or her career goals should participate in career education. i believe every student needs to graduate not just with a diploma but with another piece of paper, namely an offer letter. . and they will learn through on the job training. i look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure its passage and sending this bill to the president later this year for signing. i yield back. mr. smucker: thank you, madam speaker.

i thank the congressman for his leadership on this issue. he is a fellow member of the freshman class and i appreciate the opportunity to work with him particularly on this very, very important topic. next, i would like to introduce congressman thompson, the sponsor of h.r. 2353, who for many years has been leading the charge here in the house to strengthen career technical education. i yield my time to congressman thompson. mr. thompson: i thank my good friend from pennsylvania, representative smucker, who is doing a great job representing his congressional district and being a strong voice for pennsylvania for hosting this important special order tonight focused on career and technical education. my appreciation to my good friend, representative from illinois, who is leading the charge with the piece the legislation. i hope we will see on the house

floor in weeks to come. as co-chair, i often say high quality career and technical education can restore wrungs on the ladder of opportunity. this statement is one i truly believe in. for many americans, those wrungs have been displaced for different reasons, whether access to training, access to quality effective training, whether it's been poverty, whether it's been unemployment, underemployment, all things that take away wrungs on the ladder of opportunity. this career and technical education can truly restore wrungs on the ladder of opportunity. it is undenyable that has helped americans to break the cycle of poverty and achieve a lifetime of success. the first step to increasing access to the programs across

the united states is modernizing the federal investment in these programs. it has been more than a decade since congress has updated the federal law. this is problematic due to the fact that so much about our society and our nation's work force that is changed. the last time the perkins' act was re-authorized, we have new skill sets, new jobs, new industry, new opportunities, new technology. so for example, today, more than one million positions remain open in the trade, transportation and utility sectors and 315,000 manufacturing positions are currently unfilled. if we are to embark on a new era of american manufacturing and improved infrastructure, we need a qualified and well trained work force to fill these positions. as the number one asset of any business. it's not the location. it's not the compliance. it's not the marketing. it's really the qualified and

trained work force. with this in mind, i work with my colleagues to introduce strengthening education and technical education act. our last congress passed out of the house committee of education and work force and widely supported on the house floor by 405-5. unfortunately, things bogged down in the senate with a lot of good legislation at the end of last calendar year and so here we are again. and which is ok, because we have taken the opportunity to make this just a little bit better, too. small refinements but improvements. we used our time effectively. this robust re-authorization will ensure that federal policies accurately reflect the challenges and realities facing students, workers and employers. additionally, the bill supports

innovative learning opportunities and stronger engagements with employers by promoting work-based learning at the federal level. more employers will build relationships with students through hands-on experience. this type of learning is invaluable to students with a wide range of students and learning styles. i'm happy to see this bill passed out of the committee unanimously and looking to its consideration on the house floor and in the senate. if we are serious about improving our nation's work force and providing greater opportunities for all americans, we will work together to move this bill through the legislative process. after all, this bill as i said before does restore wrungs on the ladder of opportunity. increasing access to education is far reaching. take, for example, 15-year-old girl who when in school was uninspired, her head is on her desk.

she doesn't learn in the typical way that many of us do where people talk at you and teach. but if you can put something in her hands, the tools of career and technical education, that could be a welder, a paint brush, farm implements, she's inspired. she's inspired and does great and excels. a young boy today who is a young man today, but as a young boy, -- on the spectrum scale and had some issues of utism and this young man through introduction through career and technical education, this young man right out of high school, while he went in as a elder and today, he's making a lot of money, significant amount of money, more than what his

teacher was making right out of high school as a welder because of what career and technical education did. the young couple who is at the kitchen table deciding how to make ends meet, this is an opportunity to get back into the work force. and like a promotion, do better for his family and bring more money home. it serves that person. the family who is stuck in poverty and maybe for generations. stuck in poverty, they don't remember what was the incident that put them in poverty generations ago but this can break poverty. and the successful business owner who is doing all the right things and invested in her business and grown the business and has a great product and in a great location and a great marketing plan, great compliance plan because of regulation issues, but she is closing her

business, because she can't find qualified and trained workers to keep that business going let alone grow it. these are all examples of folks who will benefit from this. i thank my colleagues for their enthusiastic support, on a day when i know there are other places and pressures to be here this evening and right here on the house floor and leading it for career and technical education and thanks representative smucker for his leadership and tonight's special order. and i yield back. mr. smucker: thank you, representative thompson. i would like to thank the congressman for his leadership on this very, very important issue. and very much enjoy in the five months i have been here working with congressman thompson, fellow member of the pennsylvania delegation, but i

have seen his passion for this issue. so again, look forward to continue to work with you on this and really appreciate your leadership. you mentioned the critical need of businesses to fill spots that are available today. and we see the unemployment rate today. we know this is a problem today and will continue to be a problem. my background is in construction, owned a construction firm, had about 150 employees. our biggest problem always, always was finding qualified people to fill the spots that are available. and at the same time, i saw the opportunity that available to people who decided to take up a career in construction. it's not as many people think. neither construction or manufacturing are many jobs that require skilled training. the industry uses technology and it's not a dirty job that people

once thought it was and manufacturing is the same way. and at the same time, they are great paying jobs, family-sustaining jobs available in these fields. e need to do a better job of enlightening the opportunities, talking about the opportunities that are available through career and technical education. . there's no better way to help people out of poverty than to provide them -- connected them with a good-paying job and the self-worth that's achieved from finding a job. we know those jobs are available today and what career and technical education does is connect people, prepare people for great-paying jobs that are available. so again thank you so much for your leadership on this. now i'd like to yield as much of my time as he may need to

another freshman colleague of mine on the education and work force committee, mr. mitchell, who has an extensive background in higher education and brings that expertise to the committee. . mitchell: thank you, mr. smucker. madam speaker, i rise today to talk about education and work force preparedness. prior to serving in congress, i dedicated my 30-year career to work force education. helping people develop the skills necessary to get a job and start a career path. there was something about the pride that comes when someone builds the skills necessary to start a career. their whole world changes when they see what they can achieve and the difference it makes to their family. i ran for congress with the desire to make that opportunity possible for all americans, to help all americans succeed as i've had and so many others in this chamber. for some people, pursuing their desired career means a four-year college degree.

i've also seen that's not the right path for many years. yet, too often those that wish to pursue areas in technical areas lack the skills needed in the area and to move forward. this is a problem we all heard of, the skills gap. people young and more mature like us are unable to find jobs because they lack necessary skills. we've seen this repeatedly in my home state of michigan. several companies have been awarded incentives to grow and expand to through the michigan strategic fund but had to dial back planned expansions due to hiring challenges. the website lists nearly 100,000 open jobs and positions across the range of industries. businesses simply cannot find qualified individuals to fill their open jobs. it threatens our nation. we must address it.

in efforts to assess the needs of our education system over the last five months, i met with students, administrators, teachers and employers throughout my congressional district. every single employer i met since i started office have told me the same thing, believe it or not. they need more employees with the skills necessary, the core technical skills necessary to contribute in the work force. despite expensive and extensive recruitment efforts, they can't find them. it's creating a real problem. they are turning down work and turning down opportunity and growth across this nation and my district because they cannot find skilled employees. schools in my community recognize this problem but too often their hands are tied. needing to ensure students meet arbitrary standards and testing metrics -- here's the irony. rather than ensure they are prepared for the employment in the community, we are worried about test scores. teachers have asked for more flexibility to offer choices to

students and families to develop skills to meet the needs of employers and frankly the needs of the 21st century. the strengthening career in technical education act for the 21st century would give additional flexibility to the community and educators are asking for. it will allow them to better accommodate local work force needs. schools, parents, employers and teachers have made it clear. areer in technical education can ensure that programs are accountable, involving all stakeholders and granting more flexibility. the bipartisan strengthening career in technical education act of the 21st century achieves those goals. i am proud to support it as one step to expand the educational opportunities and choice in this country. thank you, mr. smucker, and i yield back. mr. smucker: thank you, representative mitchell. again appreciate not only your passion for this issue but the

wealth of experience in this field that you bring to the table and look forward as well to continuing to work with you on this issue. and now i'd like to yield to once again another freshman member of the class who very ch enjoy working with, mr. ferguson. i yield as much time as you may need. mr. ferguson: thank you, mr. smucker. i, too, would like to express my appreciation for representative thompson for taking the lead on this on our side of the aisle. he did a great job, and also representative krishnamoorthi from illinois who worked tirelessly to make this a really, really solid bill. thanks to both of you and thank you for leading this special order tonight. in my district and throughout georgia, our school systems, technical colleges and communities are creating innovative career tech opportunities to help transition students into a work

force. due dual enrollment in the technical college system of georgia and career academies like the think academy in lagrange, 12 for life in carrollton, georgia, these programs are helping our young people make the transition from high school directly into the work force and helping adult learners transition into new careers. i visited these centers and learned about these education programs, and they provide a meaningful transition for these students. they rely heavily on the carl d. perkins career and technical education act. this is a pivotal work force development tool. it enables them to tailor programs that reflect work force needs, leveraging small dollars for very large outcomes. traveling throughout my district, the number one issue i hear from business and education leaders is work force development. and i have seen examples across the third district of how community stakeholders are

pilling together to do their part to develop career tech education and in turn create opportunities for yuck people to climb the ladder of success. i'm so impressed by the emerging partnerships that have naturally come about as these groups work to close the skills gap that we have in this country. they know the urgent need we have to educate students and develop these skills to fulfill the demands of a 21st century job. this story -- this is a story of how so many of our communities across the country and the reason why i support the effort to move forward and re-authorize the parkins c.t.e. it will upgrade the law and more accurately reflect the needs and work being done by states and local communities, providing flexibility, streamline application processes, promoting partnerships, accountability and a limited federal role. it's time to make these reforms, and i proudly support h.r. 2353.

thank you, madam speaker, and i yield back. mr. smucker: thank you, mr. ferguson. as you mentioned, this is about jobs, family-sustaining jobs. mr. ferguson has a lot of experience bringing jobs to his town of west point in georgia where he was mayor, creating thousands of new jobs there through innovative policies there. i look forward to continue to work with you on this as well. thank you. now i'd like to yield time, madam speaker, to another colleague on the education and work force committee who has been a leading voice as well on c.t.e., mr. wilson. . wilson: thank you, congressman lloyd smucker for yielding. i appreciate your dedicated leadership to the people of pennsylvania. students and businesses in south carolina know firsthand the importance of an educated work force to promote jobs.

they also know that quality education doesn't have to come at the time and expense of a traditional four-year college degree to achieve fulfilling jobs. while visiting the schools and businesses across the second district of south carolina, i regularly learned how they have positively benefited from career in technical education programs, programs that create jobs and lead to fulfilling lives. with career in technical education, students can have practical skills and training into their educational experience, skills that are valuable to the work force to create jobs. businesses in south carolina especially appreciate the opportunity to work with the technical colleges to close the skills gap and hire trained, experienced employees for highly technical jobs. i have been grateful to have the opportunity to visit midland technical job, akin -- akin job, calhoun

technical college, calhoun technical college, and i am proud for their role in connecting students with employers. i also appreciate the countless businesses in south carolina like boeing aircraft, michelin tire, m.t.u., fleur and others that support the career and technical education programs and hire students from the programs or facilitate apresent shship -- apprenticeship programs. these have been the basis to establish the tire industry where in the district i represent, michelin is the single largest tiring manufacturer in the world at that location. additionally, south carolina, with bridgestone, which is japanese, continental, which is german, michelin which is french, giti which is singapore, and soon a chinese

tire manufacturer, the training programs we have, south carolina is now the leading manufacturer and exporter of tires of any state in the united states. additionally, with b.m.w., we have -- south carolina is the leading exporter of cars of any state in the united states. in fact, last year $9.4 billion worth of b.m.w.'s were exported out of charleston for worldwide distribution. while south carolina has been highly successful in promoting career and technical education programs, i hope all communities across the country can experience the success that we have achieved creating jobs. the 21st century career and technical education act will reduce regulations and allow state and local leaders to create career and technical education programs best for their communities. as the house of representatives will consider the bipartisan 21st century career and technical education act soon, i urge all of my colleagues to support this job-creating

legislation for meaningful and productive families. i yield back the balance of my time. mr. smucker: thank you, mr. wilson. i'm happy to say i am one of those that supports the economy in south carolina by buying those bridgestone and firestone tires on my vehicles. but mr. wilson has been a strong advocate, obviously, for the people of his district, the people of his state and has been a leader in rars to c.t.e. -- regards to c.t.e. and look forward to working with him on this bill as well. we probably -- i think we will have one more speaker who is on the way, and as we wait for -- i'd like to highlight mr. wilson talked about some of the schools in his area that

have been doing a great job in connecting people, training people for -- educating people for the kind of jobs that are available in our work forces. these ph-16 is home to college of technology and it's an incredible story and similar to stories of many of the other institutions that are providing career and technical education, but there was a job fair recently at thaddeus stevens and for just a few hundred positions available, graduates, there were about 450 companies essentially competing for those individuals, competing to fill spots they had. and so it goes without saying that the placement rate at many of these schools -- i know certainly at thaddeus stevens, it's almost 100% placement rate. i mean, these are -- they have a problem in fact sometimes keeping people until graduation

because students are hired away. they're offered jobs even before they graduate. some of the students coming out of thaddeus stevens are earning the average, i should say, is $45,000 annually, and some of them, we have the marcellus shale drilling in our area, or welders. some of them are earning up to six figures, $100,000 or more in the first or second year of employment. so, again, the kind of jobs that we are talking about here are great-paying, family-sustaining jobs. my district is home to reading area community college and pennsylvania college of health sciences, both of which offers c.t. programs. and we have spoken with as a part of leading up to this bill

being introduced, with their faculty, with students and their staff about how some of these programs can be improved. harrisburg area community college has a campus in my district in lancaster. and they do something that i think we will be seeing more of, should be seeing more of. that is they run an innovative apprenticeship program. they brought together private businesses that work with the school to help prepare skilled workers to fill available jobs. very innovative program. the program has been very, very successful and future initiatives there include expanding the program into our local high schools to ensure hat graduates are college or career ready. it's an opportunity we have across the country. if you look at some other

models, from the european countries, had long extensive conversation with the ambassador in switzerland. we think about apprenticeship and may be blue collar workers, construction manufacturing. in switserland. i was told they have a-- switzerland, they have 3 -- 230 careers. bankers, insurers, many, many different companies are taking advantage of the apprenticeship program there. and it gets to our student debt problem that we hear so much about. students are earning a degree. students are earning a degree. so it does away with debt. you are earning dollars as you are learning. it's a great model that i hope to see more of here.

we are now joined by congressman langevin from rhode island, and i would like to yield as much time as needed to the congressman. mr. langevin: i thank the gentleman for yielding. and i want to thank representative smucker for holding this special order. mr. speaker, as co-chair of the career and technical education ucus, i rise to highlight to the importance and i appreciate all the comments that the gentleman just mentioned. and i concur. mr. speaker, across rhode island, i continue to hear from employers struggling to find skilled workers to fill open jobs in manufacturing and i.t. and other trades. hundreds of thousands of high-skilled high-paying jobs are unfulfilled in our country

and this number is continuing to grow. especially as we hear about bringing jobs back from overseas . manufacturing just by way of example has changed dramatically. no longer these factories, the old dirty, noisy factories, manufacturing of old that their fathers or grandfathers were used to, now they are all high tech. you see robots doing a lot of the manufacturing that require both programming and sophisticated knowledge of how to run this advanced equipment. and so the jobs though are coming back, they are coming back in different ways, needing different skills. and right now we need to ensure our work force is equipped with the tools to meet the demands of the economy to close our

nation's skills gap and we need to align education and industry. our students should be learning the skills they need to succeed in growing economic sectors. one of the most important investments that we can make in our nation's future. the governor of rhode island likes to say we need to give our workers the skills that matter for jobs that pay. so the ocean state, the new education center, is working to promote c.t.e. providing a range of courses to meet the projected needs of the region's economy. the education center brings together higher education, industry and community partners to ensure students of all ages are prepared for work force opportunities in rhode island. so classes range from industry-specific skills training to courses in critical

thinking, in management and also soft skills. c.e.e. courses are in demand. 12.5 million high school and college students are enrolled in c.t.e. across the nation, but federal involvement in this he area has decreased since 2011 and the carl perkins act hasn't been re-authorized since 2006. i'm hoping to see this act re-authorized very soon. perkins is the primary federal investment in c.t.e.'s and most important thing we can do to promote and support students and businesses across the country is to re-authorize this legislation. it needs to be updated for our changing economy and funding for programs must be able to support programs across the nation. last congress, the house overwhelmingly passed the

strengthening career and technical education act and i call on my colleagues to do the same in this congress as well. it was a weird moment of bipartisanship? the congress and how we can work together and that will lead to other things as well. but h.r. 235 recently passed unanimously by the education and work force committee and again the product of an inclusive and thoughtful process. i commend the chairman of the education and work force committee and the ranking member and all the members on both sides of the aisle for working closely together. again, a very comply complicated piece of legislation that passed unanimously out of committee. i would like to thank my caucus co-chair and representative thompson for his great work on this bill. a member of the education and work force and we work in

lockstep on these matters and pressure to -- pleasure to work with him. it makes the necessary updates to perkins with emphasis on training students for the skills they will need in high growth economic sectors. and the bill includes increasing collaboration between industry and education and expanding apprenticeships and aligning state performance indicators with the local labor markets among other things. unfortunately at a time when it's more crucial than ever to invest in c.t.e., the president's budget has proposed a budget for fiscal year 2018 that cuts grants by 15% that is more than $168 million. in rhode island, that perkins' funding cut would mean a cut of more than $800,000. if enacted the president's budget would not only slash a

crucial investment in our students, it would deeply hurt businesses. we want businesses to come back to the country and from overseas and relocate those jobs here. we need to make sure we have the work force that can do the jobs that will be available andr in fact, available right now. this is the time to invest in work force development and not undermine. the demand for c.t.e. is growing and our economy desperately needs it. so, mr. speaker, in closing, let me swruss say, i encounseling my colleagues to prioritize c.t.e. it matters for your constituents and yields big returns for our states' economies and our nation's economy as a whole and providing workers with the skills necessary to thrive in the economy is essential to our economic prosperity. it's the right thing to do giving our workers the skills they need for the jobs that pay.

and with that, i yield back the balance of my time -- i yield back to the gentleman. mr. smucker: thank you to the congressman. your points are very good. and i appreciate your leadership as co-chair of the c.t.e. caucus and for the work that you've done in bringing this bill to the point where it is now. you're right. it was passed unanimously out of the education and work force committee and thank the chair for making it a priority. we hope it passes the floor the house. it did last session and we hope it becomes a priority for the senate. it's important. you mentioned some of the schools, the institutions in your district and talked about some in mine. i have heard from all of them. not only given input into the bill itself and improve the entire system, but they talked about the importance of the

grants that are provided to them act and he perkins re-authorization will be very beneficial in keeping that -- in keeping those grants going and providing the help that we can from the federal level. so thank you. as i conclude with my remarks, first again would like to thank all of my colleagues who have participated in this bipartisan special order. it is really as we have seen a bipartisan issue here. nd i would like to thank the congressman from illinois to helping to co-lead this and for sponsoring the bill along with congressman thompson. my own background, i was someone with a nontraditional education. i recognize the importance of providing our constituents with

educational pathways that provide them the skills necessary to launch successful careers. my experience, i know firsthand what it's like to work a full-time job while attending school. and i believe it's important that we accommodate the needs of many different types of students that are ready to learn and willing to work. so again, i'm excited, very happy to co-sponsor and support the strengthening career and technical education for the 21st century act. this bill empowers state and local community leaders. it improves alignment with in-demand jobs, those jobs we have been talking about. it increases transparency and accountability and it ensures a limited federal role putting the decision making where it should

be. i mentioned before, but in closing, i would like to thank my pennsylvania colleague, g.t. thompson for his leadership on this critically important legislation. the level of support for strengthening career and technical education among my colleagues in the house and on a bipartisan basis is absolutely outstanding and i'm very eager to continue finding new ways in which we can grow c.t.e. and apprenticeship programs and expand access for pennsylvania's working people and allow them to help them achieve the american dream. thank you, madam speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. under the speaker's announced policy of january 3, 2017, the gentleman from maryland, mr. raskin, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the

minority leader. mr. raskin: delighted to be here on behalf of the progressive caucus. this is our special order hour. we've decided to devote our remarks this evening to the testimony of former f.b.i. director comey, who testified in the u.s. senate today. i ask unanimous consent to members have five legislative days to include extraneous material on the subject of my special order. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. raskin: today america watched former f.b.i. director comey offer his testimony before the senate select committee on intelligence and it was a dramatic and serious moment in the history of our country and in the unfolding of the crisis to the investigation of russia's involvement in the u.s.

election and then the firing of general flynn by president trump. first time that director comey spoke publicly about his firing by president trump and the investigation since he left the f.b.i. in his testimony, he confirmed much of what has been reported about the matter. now what any reasonable-minded observer would have to conclude after watching the testimony today, after reading mr. comey's testimony is that president trump was trying mightily to use his office and his influence to get director comey to drop the investigation of general flynn, his former national security advisor. indeed, president trump as much as said so when he said he mueller -- ired sorry -- that he fired director comey because he was unhappy

about the russia investigation and presumably the russia investigation into general flynn. now, madam speaker, distinguished colleagues, look how far we've come over the last several months. the president of the united states hired a national security advisor after being warned not to by the former president of the united states, by then-president obama. that national security advisor lasted a total of 24 days in office when it was determined that he had lied to vice president pence about his dealings with russia, and then later we learned he was registered for an agent or he registered retroactively as a foreign agent for -- an agent for foreign government. now, think how dramatic this sequence of events is.

imagine, if you would, if president barack obama had met with attorney general eric holder and vice president joe biden and f.b.i. director comey in his office and then asked vice president biden and attorney general holder to leave his office, saying he wanted to speak alone to the f.b.i. director and then proceeded essentially to tell the f.b.i. director comey that he wanted him to drop the investigation into hillary clinton's emails saying, you know, hillary clinton's a good woman, she's a good person and i hope you can just let the investigation into her emails go, just let it go, and to demand repeatedly with absolute personal loyalty. now, as it happened, director comey refused to take a vow of absolute loyalty to the president. after all, he takes an oath of office to the constitution of the united states and the people of the country.

so he couldn't say that he would give absolute loyalty to the president of the united states. that's not consistent with our constitutional form of government. but imagine this had happened under the obama administration. obama had made a similar demand of f.b.i. director comey who was investigating, after all, hillary clinton's emails, had dismissed the vice president and attorney general to have a one-on-one conversation and said, i really hope you let this go, let the full trappings of his office and influence to try to get the attorney general to drop the investigation. if that happened i dare say every member of this body, every member would have recognized that as an attempt to obstruct justice by the president of the united states. and lots of members certainly would have been calling for impeachment of president obama or interfering with an ongoing investigation by the f.b.i.

well, what's happening now in congress? well, lots of our colleagues are mr. murphy:ing a defense of president trump saying, well, it doesn't look good, and maybe he shouldn't have done it but he's new to government. trump is new to washington. he's not schooled in the ways of washington, it's being said. he's actually a breath of fresh air that he doesn't know how washington operates. i think that completely confuses the question. dear colleagues, madam speaker, the law against obstruction of justice in the united states, which is a felony criminal offense, 18 u.s.c. 1503, applies against experienced government officials and inexperienced government officials.

it applies to all citizens of the united states. it applies to people who worked in washington their whole lives and people who worked in washington for several months. in fact, it applies to people across the country. it is not a law that applies in the district of columbia. it applies in new york. it applies in mira lago. it applies everywhere. o american citizen can persuade a juror to do a certain thing, whether it's trying to influence a judge in a particular case or whether it's trying to get a prosecutor to drop an investigation into a particular person or into an entire subject matter. no one has the right to interfere with the due administration of justice in america. that is both a criminal statutory principle in 18 u.s. code. it's a constitutional principle which is well recognized because democracy, our constitutional democracy depends upon the rule of law. and there's no rule of law if

there's no even handedness and no impartiality in the administration of justice. no one has the right to interfere with justice. about t should be done this? nobody quite knows what to do at this point. we do have a special counsel, mr. mueller, who's been appointed, and that's good, but what he's looking for is counterintelligence information and he's looking for possible criminal activity. but if we take a step back, what is all of this really about? i was very pleased that former director comey talked about this in his testimony today. what this is about was a concerted, deliberate, comprehensive effort orchestrated from the very top of the russian government to interfere with the u.s. election.

that's something now that f.b.i. director -- former f.b.i. director comey has spoken about publicly, and it's something that 18 of our intelligence agencies have reported to congress and the american people in a public report with a high degree of certainty that there was an orchestrated campaign to undermine and subvert our campaign starting at the highest levels of the russian government. that took place, ok. so the criminal or counterintelligence investigation doesn't go to the question that's got to concern us in congress, which is the threat to our democratic form of government. as f.b.i. director comey restated today, 2016 could just be a dress rehearsal for what's coming at us in 2018 and 2020. the intelligence agencies said that they would try to do it again. russia is no match for the military might of the united states of america.

russia is no match for the economic might of the united states of america. russia's autocratic, clepto krattic, dick at that torial style of -- dictatorial style of government is no match for the might of the united states of america. but the russia has figured out a way to use the internet to penetrate the democracies of the world on the cheap. it's not expensive to have paid trols to orchestrate fake -- trolls to orchestrate fake news and try to sway the electoral process in the united states or in the netherlands or in france or in other countries of the world. now, we don't have all of the facts. that's why we need an independent outside investigation by a commission that we set up outside of congress. no democratic members of congress. no republican members of congress. no elected officials.

what we will put on there is statesmen and stateswomen who are experienced in questions of democracy and foreign policy, who are trusted and we will ask them to give us the kind of report that the 9/11 commission gave to us about what happened in the 2016 election and how do we prepare to stop it from happening again to us in the future. now, notice that you can support this and i think you should support this whether or not there was any collusion by anybody within the trump administration. you could be completely convinced there was collusion between particular members of the trump administration or trump campaign and russia or you can be completely convinced there was no collusion at all, that they knew nothing about those efforts. it doesn't make any difference. there was still a massive assault on american democracy, and we got to respond to it. and that's -- that is why i think the pathway forward for us now is for both sides in

congress, both parties to come together and to act in a patriotic way, not in a partisan way to say, let's create an objective, disinterested, outside commission to get to the bottom of what happened to us in this election. and we will let for the time being the department of justice and special counsel mueller deal with the question of criminal culpability and criminal deeds. but that's of less importance in truth than the integrity of our political institutions and the future of american democracy. there is the question which remains unresolved and at this point still relatively untouched about what's so special about michael flynn. we have a president who is unafraid to offend anybody. he told our best allies in the world in nato that nato's obsolete. i think he's changed course on that, but he was very willing

to basically wave off the importance of nato. he's willing to tell one of our biggest trade partners of the world, mexico, that he was going to force them to build a wall on the border, force them to pay for it. again, i think he seems to have backtracked on that. i don't know where he stands on that now. he was willing to insult the government of australia which has been a great ally of the united states. he had a tv showed called "you're fired," right, so he's not afraid of offending people. so we see him pick a fight with people all the time. he picked a fight with meryl streep. suddenly with michael flynn, this disgraced national security advisor who he fired, president trump goes to great lengths to try to interfere in an ongoing investigation which i think everybody can recognize

his obstruction or attempted obstruction of justice. he interferes with the f.b.i. director in a really astonishing and unprecedented way to try to get flynn carved out of the investigation. why? what does flynn know? what is the nature of their relationship such that the president goes to such extraordinary lengths to carve him out from the investigation? that is something that we're going to need to get to the bottom of because democracies operate on the truth. truth is built into our system. that's why we have judges and we have juries. that's why we have due process. that's why we have congressional oversight over the president of the united states. that's why all of us in public service swear an oath to the constitution. the truth means something in a democracy. so we're going to have to get to the bottom of that. but in the meantime, congress can act effectively and in a

unified way, and i was encouraged by what both republican and democratic senators on the senate committee today were saying which is everybody agreed or at least a lot of them agreed that there had been this unacceptable assault on the electoral institutions of our political democracy in 2016 and we've got to prevent it from happening again. e need to have a bipartisan or nonpartisan, independent commission outside of congress to study exactly what happened and to report back to us about what we need to do to build up our defenses so our democracy is as strong as our economy and as our military and so our democratic institutions need to be fortified against subversion, against hacking, against cyberpropaganda and fake news and so on.

with that, madam speaker, i'm going to call up and invite the very distinguished congresswoman from seattle, washington, ms. jayapal, who has been an advocate for human rights in the house of representatives since her rrival in january. ms. jayapal: thank you so much, representative raskin, for your leadership in the house. it's been a great honor to special the c.p.c. order hour. since i was the vice chair of the congressional progressive caucus, i will be right here for the special order hours because i do think they are an important opportunity for members to talk about issues all at once and to kind of pick an issue and to focus on it. obviously today we're talking

about the testimony from former f.b.i. director james comey. this was highly anticipated testimony and i'd be willing to guess a lot more people, perhaps even watched the testimony than watched the inauguration, but i think we learned a great deal from director comey. i appreciate that he was willing to come and testify, and he said some very important things in that testimony. mr. comey confirmed that president trump sought to influence the f.b.i. investigation into his campaign's ties to russia, including that of michael flynn. . while the president claimed he did not ask director comey to drop the investigation, mr. comey actually testified under oath that trump's directive was clear and that this was apparently so off putting that he began to memorialize their meetings. every single meeting he had with president trump, he would have

the meeting and then go back to the car and peedly take notes on the meeting -- immediately take notes on the meeting. that was troubling. that was something director comey never did with previous administrations. one of the things that stuck out to me in his system is he felt so uncomfortable with the interactions that he was having with the president, because i think the american people need tond, the f.b.i. is built to be -- need to understand, the f.b.i. is built to be an independent organization. the reason that the term of the f.b.i. director is 10 years is because it was a signal from congress that even though the f.b.i. director does serve at the pleasure of the president, and mr. comey was clear about that in his testimony today, he is -- the president has the ability to hire and fire the f.b.i. director. but the reason congress signaled -- through legislation that the term of the f.b.i. director should be 10 years was because they wanted to send a signal

that this body is incredibly important and the independence of this body is incredibly important. d so the fact that mr. comey as f.b.i. director felt so uncomfortable about these interactions with the president, nine interactions with the president, i think he had only two interactions with president obama during his entire term, and yet in just the first few months he had nine interactions with president trump. and he actually asked attorney general sessions and deputy attorney general rosenstein not to leave him alone with the president. that is really a remarkable, scary thing. that he would have to ask for that. it certainly should have raised some red flags and should have triggered some action from the attorney general or the deputy attorney general. it did not. he never received an answer to that. mr. comey also said that he

expects the special counsel's investigation to look into the possibility that trump's actions were an obstruction of justice. he said that this did fall within the investigation's scope. so while he didn't directly say that trump was directly under investigation, he did say that this -- the president's behavior does fall within the investigation's scope. that frankly does nothing to dispel any concerns that are out there amongst the american people, an many of us in congress, -- and many of us in congress, that president trump's campaign did not collude with russia. apparently he did not seem particularly concerned about whether or not russia did interfere in the elections, but was more interested in whether or not his circle of friends, michael flynn, was under threat. director comey or former director comey also confirmed that michael flynn is under criminal investigation and he

raised more questions about attorney general jeff sessions. as i have spoken about on the floor before, attorney general sessions should not have been involved in the firing of james comey in the first place. he had recused himself from all things related to the investigation, into the campaign's ties to russia, because of his involvement with the trump campaign. and so that was good. we thought that was a very good move that he made to recuse himself. but then he immediately went and was directly involved in the decision making around the person who was leading the investigation. in fact, involved in the decision to fire the person who was leading the investigation. mr. comey also hinted that jeff sessions had more contact with the russians than maybe we even knew about. he could not speak to that in a public setting. he said that is for a classified setting. but obviously that raises a lot more questions and the american people certainly deserve the

truth. one of the biggest takeaways from the testimony was this. president trump gave many changing reasons as to why director comey was fired. and director comey spoke to this today. he said, at first it was because it was because of comey's handling of the clinton emails. then it was that he had lost the support of the f.b.i. agents, something that james comey responded to and said, those were lies, plain and similar. actually mr. comey spent quite some time really acknowledging the work of the organization, the f.b.i. organization, and the agents and everything that he's done. i certainly got the impression that he felt very, very deeply upset by any indication that perhaps it was because his agents didn't want him to be there. what he pointed to, what mr. comey pointed to, is that

eventually the president in his own words admitted that he fired james comey over the russian investigation. and then right after that actually said to the russians that the pressure has now been taken off, now that comey has been fired. those are all incredibly disturbing. i am sad, mr. speaker, that the republican -- some republican colleagues, not all, but some have tried to dismiss the president's actions as, quote, mistakes. made by a new president who's learning how to do his job. speaker paul ryan went so far as to say that, and thanks quote, that he's new at government -- and this is a quote, that he's new at government, there are i think he's learning as he goes. this is just one day after the speaker said that it's obviously, that was his word, not appropriate for the president to ask for mr. comey's loyalty. so which one is it, mr. speaker? it is unacceptable to ex the

president's actions simply because -- excuse the president's actions simply because he's not a career professional, especially when we're talking about something of this magnitude. the magnitude of interference in our election process in the united states of america by a foreign government. and we do not have any information still about all of the ways in which a president of the united states, this president of the united states, may be indebted to some foreign government because of their actions with the election. it has been repeatedly reported that the president does not sit for briefings, does not read the reports that are provided to him, does not stick to speeches on policies that are written for him, and frankly shows very little interest in participating in the administrative responsibilities that most presidents go through in order to learn what is a very big job. yes, the job of the president of the united states is a very big

job. and anybody who gets into that job, just as i do in this body as a new member of congress, we try to learn the rules. we go to the people who know the most, we ask them to give us briefings, we suck up as much information as we possibly can so that we understand both content and process. but unfortunately this president of that. ne any and he has made many, many unforced errors. frankly, he has put our national security at risk by giving away secrets to russia, insulating key -- insulting key allies who have now said that they won't share information with us because they don't trust that we're going to be able to keep it secret. and nato and our allies in the european union where i just came back, everybody around the world is unsure of what leadership, if any, to expect from the united states of america. angela merkel said in the best when she said, we can't rely on

anybody else anymore. and she said, we as the european union have to just come together and rely on ourselves. and while that's great for the european union, i'm glad that there's something that has happened here that's drawn the european union together, it's incredibly important -- it's an incredibly important entity for the world, and has been doing remarkable work. but what i would hope, mr. speaker, is that countries around the world could know that the united states was going to continue to take global leadership, was going to continue to demonstrate that global leadership. most of all, was going to be trusted to make relationships and respect the rules of those relationships. the american people are aware that the president's background is not in politics. however, the white house is not "the apprentice." had a new employee in the trump organization made as many errors as have been made in this administration, he would have been fired a long time ago.

the american people deserve better. and not only do we demand that the president not intervene in any negative way in director mueller's investigation, and we're very pleased that director mueller has been appointed. i believe that that was an incredibly important step that assistant attorney general rod rosenstein took to appoint somebody with the credibility that mueller has. we hope that this investigation will continue. because i think the important for the american people to understand, this is not an independent investigator or prosecutor. this is special counsel. so that still means that anything that director mueller finds, his findings, his reports they do get run up the chain of command -- his reports, they do get run up the chain of command at the department of justice. so if you watched instead's -- yesterday's hearings, you might have seen a senator ask that we

have -- you know, ask rod rosenstein if he could assure that there really would be independence, that neither rosenstein nor jeff sessions would get involved in trying to change or influence in any way whatever director mueller comes up with. she was not given that assurance yesterday, unfortunately. and so we still don't know. but we have to hope and believe that the president that administration will preserve the independence of the special counsel and will take all of the findings and the recommendations as what they're presented and not try to change them. i really believe, mr. speaker, at this point that while the special counsel is an important step forward, i join my colleague, mr. raskin, and many, many others in this caucus in our democratic caucus, in calling for -- caucus, in our democratic caucus, in calling for a special commission, an

independent commission, similar to the 9/11 commission, filled with citizens, not with members of congress, but with respected citizens and people with expertise, as well as those citizens. to actually come together and think not only about the immediate impact of how we get to the bottom of what has happened, but really how do we prevent this going forward? what we're talking about is the sanctity of our democracy. we're talking about whether our elections can be free of influence from other countries. we're talking about if an american citizen casts a vote here in the united states for the president of the united states, that that vote is not being influenced by a foreign government who has hacked our elections or worked in collusion with a campaign for the president of the united states. and that ultimately whoever we select, whether it is this

president or any president in the future, that that president must be responsible to the american people. that is what democracy is about. we don't want any president, now or in the future, to ever be in a situation where there's information is that can be used against them, where they could be blackmailed, leveraged, or where they are actively colluding with any government outside of this country. these are our elections. it is what makes this country great. it is why so many people from all around the world look at america with tremendous gratitude, with tremendous respect, even awe. for the way in which we've constructed our democracy. and that is part of whats goes on in this chamber. and we need to know that the election of the president of this great country is always an election that the american people have faith in, and that

democracy is preserved. and so, mr. speaker, i think what james comey's testimony showed us today is, we have a lot -- we got a lot of answers. but we didn't get enough answers. there's still more information that we need to find. there's more information that the senate intelligence committee needs to find. there's more information that the president may have to provide. and there's more information that the american people are going to demand in order to ensure that we get to the bottom of where we are, that we get an independent commission established, and that we allow director mueller and his investigation to proceed without any interference. that is the least that we have to be willing to do and we have to be willing to put country above party as we try to ensure that we understand exactly what's happened. the american people deserve that. and with that, mr. speaker, i ield back.

the speaker pro tempore: the entlewoman yields back. under the speaker's announced policy of january 3, 2017, the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. fwomeert, for 0 minutes. mr. gohmert: thank you, mr. speaker. it is indeed an honor, mr. speaker, to come before, stand before the speaker, stand on

this floor where so much great debate has occurred over the ecades, even back to, i guess, 150 years ago. now, i have been heard to say over the last few days a number f times that i thought the comey testimony was ultimately e most overhyped event since y2k. much ado about nothing. thing came through very, very, very clorely. i didn't watch the testimony. i was busy presiding over a hearing involving the justice department, and grants to local

communities and how that money is being spent. but i have gone back and been reviewing the testimony. but the thing that strikes me our learly is that president, donald j. trump, is one of the most perceptive, intuitive leaders this country has ever had. apparently, if he could trust comey. now, we've heard from a lot of other people in the administration, some still there, some not. this issue about the president's concern for loyalty th comey indicates our president's gut instinct was right on. he was dealing with an f.b.i.

director who was such a political animal, that he would listen to the attorney general of the united states instruct him to change his testimony, to, i would submit, when you know it's an investigation, that you're engaged in, looking at the emails, and the potential criminality of hillary clinton, and your boss, the attorney general, said no, no, no. obviously it's an investigation. call it a matter. nobody calls the f.b.i. nvestigations matters. changing no problem his statement from the truth to

political manipulation to cover r hillary clinton and to immediately do what his boss tells him to do, lie about it. you know it's an investigation, i know it's an investigation, but we need you to lie about it, just call it a matter. i've dealt with some of the finest people i've ever known in my life that happen to work for the f.b.i. at the time we were working together, i worked with them, and i have never, ever in any federal court setting or federal investigation setting heard any f.b.i. agent in charge, field ent, leader in the f.b.i. or the justice department, call an investigation a matter, but mr. comey is such a political

animal that he was willing to salute, not the flag, but hillary clinton and loretta lynch and change what he knew to be the truth so that his answer was more misleading. , it is really interesting comey used the word, said that trump used the word hope that he would let it go. let's visit the constitution briefly here. the constitution does not mention an attorney general. the constitution does not mention the federal bureau of investigation and does not mention a federal bureau of ngs director. mentions congress, it mentions the courts, it mentions the executive branch, the president, doesn't mention f.b.i. director, attorney

general. it is the president under our constitution who is charged with seeing to the prosecution or the failure to prosecute as he believes is appropriate. so of course we had -- somebody had to have been committing imes in the fast and furious project, whatever you want to call it, i'm not sure what it was. it sure appeared to be a criminal enterprise. with people involved from .o.j. in making sure that they conspired to make sure that weapons got into the hands of criminals, which in and of itself was a crime. we also know that by the department of justice's representatives getting

involved during the obama administration, as part of this fast and furious effort, they called it, guns got into the hands of criminals and brian terry was killed, federal agent no his job and there's indication that if the department of justice had not forced those guns to be sold and to get into the hands of criminals that brian terry would not be dead. i mean if they -- if the department of justice had not forced this issue, forced guns into criminals' hands, we may very well have been hearing brian terry testify a number of times instead of pointing back toward his murder. at the hands of criminals who

our department of justice representatives under eric older got guns to. it might have been good to have a special counsel in the fast and furious investigation, or as loretta lynch and mr. comey like to use to deceive people, matter, fast and furious matter, because truth is, they didn't do much of an investigation. we saw emails indicating that there was an effort to try to use getting those guns into the hands of criminals, drug artels, as an excuse to take away law-abiding americans' second amendment rights. and continue to pursue that effort. we also know that the i.r.s.

had people who were working to prevent conservatives from having an effect in the 2012 election the way they did in 2010. as the movement was growing, the obama administration used the i.r.s. as a political weapon to disarm those who would bring together funds and try to defeat president obama in his second term. that certainly deserved a special counsel since all we seem to get in our investigations from congress' angle was a coverup and it harkens us back to the clinton administration when this tactic was discovered by people within the clinton administration. if ou just cover things up, you just deny, obfuscate, refuse to allow people to see

the documentation, destroy it, after somebody dies, get the records out of their office before anyone else has a chance to properly investigate what happened, if somebody is allege to have killed themselves at marcy park then -- is alleged to have killed themselves at marcy park, then, as i heard from my friend dan burton, they're questioning the person who supposedly found the body out there, that's not where it was, that's not where the gun was. everything appears to be changed. well, the clinton administration discovered this wonderful tactic of obfuscating. just keep denying and denying ability to get information and records. and if you do it long enough ou run out the clock and people don't get prosecuted. and we've seen that occur for eight years. there were very, very serious

matters in which somebody committed crimes. we didn't get a special investigator. we didn't get a proper investigation. protecting e wall hose who must have done wrong. i'm hoping the current attorney general will dig and people that are responsible for crimes will be held to account, but the fact is, it's the president's obligation under they are constitution to either pursue people or not pursue people. that's why even though many of us were extremely upset that the president, president obama, kept pardoning people who were as much as lons and

a pset us that he in literal sense not only obstructed justice, he destroyed it, unfortunately, the president has authority to demand people not be prosecuted. so we heard new priorities around the country when president obama took office. he didn't want his justice department spending a lot of time on enforcing drug laws. d it turns out they hardly ever prosecuted, compared to other administrations, hardly ever prosecuted criminal gun violations. far fewer than past

administration. because what they wanted to do was allow the gun crimes to ntinue to ratchet out of control and then use that to demand more gun control. when they weren't even using the laws that were in effect. and instead of enforcing the laws in effect continue to demand more gun control. just enforce what we had. most all the crimes brought up ring that period were crimes already without any other gun control laws needing to be passed and signed into law. just enforce what we had. but that wasn't happening. t nobody stood up and said

president obama should be prosecuted for obstruction of justice because his -- because as distasteful as it was to me and so many other the president has a right to set priorities as to what his prosecutors will pursue and what will be left alone. so it's interesting on the flynn matter, president -- president trump had every right to say, look. to giving a pardon a pass is -- a pardon, a pass, to this person, let's move on. trump didn't even do that. president trump said he hoped, an aspiration, but there was no obstruction of justice. how do we know that? because we have found through the testimony of former

director comey an incredible, innate ability to see everything through a political lens. instead of a law and order lens. and that's why he could have one attorney general tell him, change what you're going to say so it deceives the public, and that's not a problem. we don't do a memo about that. but another president indicates he's concerned about my loyalty and he brings it up, so i better do memos so that i can take him down later, because he doesn't trust me. well, for good reason. the loyalty was to loretta lynch, the loyalty was to hillary clinton, the loyalty was to barack obama. and trump, what an incredible,

innate ability. he knew comey was not a loyal law and order man. he would twist the truth, as he was directed by someone else. an e would also twist untruth to hurt the current president. it appears president donald j. trump was exactly right in firing comey. we didn't need to continue to astute olitically diplomat wannabe running our f.b.i.. we needed sun -- f.b.i. we needed somebody that was law and order no matter what. so, a staunch democrat, through the years things i disagreed

with him on, i knew he's a smart man, allen. some of the things he tweeted out. comey said he understood the word hope to be a direction. if so, why didn't he tell the president that such a direction uld be vie violation of d.o.j. -- in violation of d.o.j. rules in well, here again -- rules? well, here again, the fact is, if director at the time d.o.j. -- in comey believed there was any effort to obstruct justice, then he was committing a crime by not reporting it. so i was surprised that he went because he did today he did, by pushing his -- as hard as he did on this idea that saying hope might have been a direction, the more he pushed that, the more he exposed for the prosecution

felony because he didn't report it. but the truth is, even though he wrongly believed that there was something, a violation of law or obstruction, it wasn't. but if he honestly believed that, he had to report it and he didn't. oh, yeah, he did a memo. wonder if we'd ever seen that memo if he had not been fired. but i can guarantee you, mr. speaker, if he had not been fired, from what we have now learned today, you can count on the fact that he as director of the f.b.i. would make memos any time it might help him harm president donald trump. but he would continue not to do memos when somebody, a democrat, old him to mislead the public.

allen said, if a president commits independent crimes, for example, nixon telling the staff to lie to the f.b.i., that's a crime. you can't tell somebody to commit a crime. even if you're president. or paying clars to silence witnesses -- dollars to silence .itnesses, that's a crime you can't commit a crime or tell somebody to commit a crime if you're president, even though you're president. that's on struck. it should be prosecuted. he also said -- on struck. it should be prosecuted. obstruction. it should be prosecuted. e also -- just as barack obama says, i pardon you, i am taking away the justice that's been done in your case, i'm eliminating -- i am obstructing justice in pardon after pardon

-- justice, in pardon after pardon he obstructed justice. but when a president does it as obama did, being president obama, it was not a crime when he pardonned people. now, if you have a president that, say, has somebody rich, whether that's their name or just their monetary status, and they give you a bunch of their richness, and you pardon them, then you may have sold part of your office, which could very well be a crime and probably is. but in the case of president obama, there's no indication anybody paid him to pardon people. and if nobody paid him, just did it because he thought it was a good idea to have people involved with drugs out on the street again, or people at guantanamo bay back killing americans, if he thinks that's a

good idea, then he can legally obstruct justice, which president obama legally did time and time again. allen also says, talking about comey, he confirmed that the president can order anyone to be investigated or not be investigated. he also said, yome stated the constitutional -- comey stated the constitutional principle, the president has authority to direct the f.b.i. to end a criminal investigation. he can also pardon anyone, ending an investigation. there's somebody on the internet --t goes by the sued name of pseudonym of ace of spades. this guy has a wicked wit. ace of spades sent out this tweet, as if he's quoting comey, these are ace of spades words, an sbermings of the -- an interpretation of the testimony today. he says, comey, loretta lynch

told me to lie and i didn't write that down. but i wrote down trump's stuff because i was afraid he would lie. wow. and it's got the networks all stirred up. that former f.b.i. director comey came in today and actually exposed the disloyalty to the , esident of the united states to the constitution, to the things he swore to uphold and protect. and let's look at one other thing. i haven't heard anybody else mention it. but when you have an attorney, f.b.i. director, and he's talking to the president of the , there is a rivilege involved there.

and even the least modicum of loyalty and of honor and ntegrity would cause someone who's taken an oath as an attorney, someone who has taken an oath as director of the f.b.i., someone that knows their boss is the president and all power is in the president for the executive branch, and the f.b.i. director entirely get his power from the president, there would be some smidgen of honor to want to protect those private conversations. as far as we know they weren't classified. but it's something called privilege. and it's something called loyalty. and it's something called honor.

and the testimony we heard today was a former f.b.i. director came to hen it resident trump, i wasn't going to honor our privileged conversations, i wasn't going to honor the executive privilege, i wasn't going to honor the fact that my power as f.b.i. director and the authority to investigate someone or not investigate someone is derived entirely from the president of the united states. i'll honor a person that tells me to misrepresent the truth, but i'm not going to honor someone who is concerned about fairness. even though the f.b.i. director knows better than most anyone else there's no evidence of collusion between the russians

and donald trump. there's no evidence of collusion , anybody in the trump administration at this time. and yet there was no sense of loyalty there. ink of shake peer's words -- shakespeare's words and the mar chasm of mark antony. br you utus says they're all honorable men. these are honorable people who told me to misrepresent the truth to the american people. and to the press. these are people that love me because i leak things. and i was hoping one question -- i should have contacted one of my senator friends and told them to ask it. because i'd like to know the truth. i know that my democratic friends were so furious, just livid at comey when just days

before the election he announces he's reopening the investigation. and the rumor around here was that there were f.b.i. agents who had been investigating and they knew that hillary clinton had violated the law all kinds of ways. intent was not an issue. and she had taken classified material into an unclassified computer and sent it to unclassified computers and comey has said, clean bill of health. everything's good. and they knew it wasn't good. so when they saw -- this was the rumor floating around, i'd like to know the truth. that there were f.b.i. agents, and you know some f.b.i. agents had to have found anthony tensr's computer and found of thousands of emails that we

were told had been destroyed. oh, we can't get those tens of thousands of emails. they're gone. and then they found them. and not only were they not in a classified area, not in a skiff, , t in a classified connection laptop, not even in a government employee's laptop, they were on the laptop of someone who has shown the worst judgment in the world. and you want to talk about potential for blackmailing, although probably by this time i don't know what you'd have to come up with to blackmail him. but nonetheless, all of these emails are found that were supposed to be gone. there is absolutely no question that these came, some of them came from hillary clinton, were sent to an unclassified setting.

and now not only that, they're in the hands of anthony weiner. who has had his own criminal justice issues. and the rumor continued that we had such honorable f.b.i. agents that they said, mr. director, in essence, clearly this is criminal material and evidence and if you don't announce you're reopening the investigation, we're going to resign, have a press conference, and show the world that you have been covering for hillary clinton the whole time. rumor.at was a if that were true, and under those type of circumstances director comey then rushes out, just days before the election, said, i'm reopening the investigation because we found

these emails, then that would make sense. because he certainly wouldn't want f.b.i. agents to completely destroy any election chances just days before the election of hillary clinton. so, if director comey goes out, says i'm re-opening the investigation, even though republicans were rejoicing and democrats were livid, as i pointed out someone back at the time in the media, well, if, yeah, i guess it could hurt hillary clinton, but if director comey comes out a day or two fore the election and says there's nothing here, clean bill of health, hillary clinton is great, no problems. when we knew he didn't have time, nobody had time to adequately review the emails, the tens of thousands of emails,

oh, you can run a few algorithms . but real law enforcement means looking at the evidence line by line. i've known people that did it. i've done it in a civil setting. until you find the smoking gun. but you've got to go through the monotony of reviewing each of those, they had no time to do that. . and yet director comey came out, clean bill of health, it could not have been discerned in that amount of time like that. so it appeared pretty clearly the reason he said we're reopening the case is so he could say, we closed it, eliminate any chance of somebody, even a nonf.b.i. person, who comes forward and says, you know, there are classified emails that ended up on anthony wiener's computer . at came from hillary clinton there were crimes here.

in the f.b.i. director's -- and the f.b.i. director is covering for them. that would likely have brought downhillry clinton much worse than the defeat she suffered. so it's just interesting but mr. speaker, the irony with which director comey's testimony drips this evening is that our president, donald j. gut he's got good instincts. he had concerns that the director comey was disloyal, manipulative, that he may be someone that the united states government should not trust and turns out president trump's gut instincts were exactly right. he committed to crime. that's become clear. and so now we expect we'll see the media and my friends on the

other side of the aisle quit talking about russia. there's nothing there. there's been nothing there unless we start looking at potential prosecution for taking millions and millions of dollars for owners of uranium one who gave those to the clinton foundation which then again ended up benefiting the clinton family and hillary clinton then approved russia getting around 25% of our uranium production to the potential detriment and possibly in future altercations, death of americans. at the hands of the uranium that hillary clinton profited from, potentially, mightily, even if it wasn't directly. and yet america suffered. it's time to talk about real

crimes. investigate real crimes. investigate racketeering -- racketeer-influenced corrupt organizations that would pay for people to commit violence at trump events. now we're talking. america deserves better and thank god we're going to have a new f.b.i. director, director comey did some good things while at the f.b.i. but unfortunately we saw the extent that politics tainted the director today. yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair would entertain a motion from the gentleman. mr. gohmert: i move we do now hereby adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to adjourn. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the motion is adopted. accordingly the house stands

adjourned until noon on monday next for morning hour debate.